Prayer for Christian believers persecuted in India

A perfect case for diplomatic intervention.

Or an immediate air strike in retaliation.

 

I question the validity of the OP. While India is mostly Hindu, their culture is very universalistic. This is Ghandi country. They don't see Christian religions as a threat. In fact, Catholicism is popular among the educated. Also of note is that none of their national holidays are religious.

I speak with some authority here. My wife is Indian, and has family there. Many of my wife's family are Hindu. (She was born here, but her parents were not). My wife and her siblings visit India about once a year. I look forward to visiting India in the future.

In addition, the number of Christian missionaries I've known who have travelled to India is in the 30's. All of them attest to the open universalistic religious culture, and would find the information of the OP suspect.

 

Johnv
For claiming to be an expert you seem to be in the dark. Once again you are giving misleading information yet you have the audacity to question the op.

Did you even bother to check the story out? Obviously not, otherwise you would find ample information to show a different story. More than what the op even shares.

 

Enoch, I fail to see how you can be more of an expert in this topic than I. In that light, your comments are a bit uncalled for. I'm not accusing anyone associated with the OP of lying or deceiving. However, I suspect that there is more to the story that we might not be hearing, and I would like to hear it. I'm not in any way condemning the ministry mentioned in the OP.

I invite the comments of those who have worked in India, or have experience on the topic, to discuss the OP.

 

Read your own words. And next time do your homework.

 

I know of a missionary in India, he is actually a native of India, born and raised there and still being a church planter there. He has reported persecution at times.

One of my best friends from college went to India as a missionary, and she had to be very careful which areas she went into, because some areas did not want the gospel.

BUT, my preacher is going over to India in January and is going to be openly preaching to very large crowds.

Could it be that there are certain areas which are more of an "open universalistic religious culture" than other areas?

Arent the various "states" of India rather loosely tied together, governmentally? (honest question....I thought Id heard that last but I could be wrong.)

 

Yes bapmom you are correct.

The area in discussion of this thread is:

 

Praying for the persecuted in India.

 

I have taken the time to meditate upon this, do some more digging, and discussing this with family and friends from India. I sit corrected. It seems that, while I'm right, Bapmom is more right .

Indian culture is indeed universalistic and doesn't generally see Christian religions as a threat. Go to places like Amritsar or Mumbay to preach, and you'll likely be treated hospitably.

Unfortunately, there are still isolated regions that are not tolerant of other religions, be it Christians, Muslims, Buddhists or even other forms of Hinduism, such as Janism. In these regions, people of "non-local" religions sometimes face persecution and violence. Because of their remoteness and autonomy, it's difficult, it not impossible, for the government to get involved in these regions, at least in any timely manner. Local municipalities in these regions are sometimes corrupt and unresponsive.

I hereby retract my questioning the validity of the OP. Since I'm not familiar with the OP's ministry, I can neither endorse nor condemn them. I can, however, encourage people to continue to pray for the people of India, both the people being ministerd to, and the people doing the ministry. My own wife and I hope to someday go to India on our own mission trip.

 

Johnv

I guess if you pick and choose through your original statement you can come to any conclusion.
In all of your pondering did you even research the story of the op? By your own words it sounds like you did not. Why? Do you think the story is “right”? I wonder if it’s more about Johnv being “right” than the actually story of the persecuted in India in the op.

I would be interested in hearing your comments about the actually story of the op and the area of Himachal Pradesh?

 

Wow, Enoch, you seem a bit preoccupied with "toppling" me instead of discussing the topic.

I attempted to research the ministry of the OP. There's not a lot of info about them, but they seem to be be perfectly above board. That is why I said "Since I'm not familiar with the OP's ministry, I can neither endorse nor condemn them.". You seem to be upset that I'm not giving a full endorsement of them. That would be irresponsible of me (or anyone) to do without more than second ot third hand knowlege.

As for Himachal Pradesh, 95% of its population is Hindu (although their adherence to the caste system is much less stringent). The remainig 5% is Christian, Sikh, Muslim, and Buddhist. This state is the least urbanized and in India (less than 10% is urban or suburban), resulting in a fair amount of isolation and autonomy. Most residents are involved in farming. The remoteness of Himachal Pradesh in the northern part of the country has resulted in a fair amount of isolation, making it somewhat difficult for missionaries to spread the Gospel there. There's somewhat of an attitude that outsiders, which could be Christian missionaries, or even Sikhs and Jains from mainline regions of India, are a threat to the local culture. This makes the persecution a very real possibility for missionaries there, and also makes this a popular locale for missionaries to do their work.

 

Enoch,

The man apologized, no need to harp on it.

 

Johnv
I would enjoy discussing the actual topic with you not the general encyclopedia information.

There’s plenty of information available if you really are interested. You were given the link. So did you research it or not, I'm confused about you finding them "perfectly above board" and not being familiar with them all in the same statement.

But didn't you research them? Is that not first hand?

So what do you think about the story of the op, knowing its fact and from a ministry you find "perfectly above board"? Discussing the topic at hand with truthfulness is good dialogue.

 

Thank you Brice.
Apologized for what? Anyone who misleads others on a Christian board especially concerning a ministry they know nothing about should be called on it. As for Johnv unfortunately I have witnessed too many misleading comments whether intentional or not.

 

You seem Hades bent on getting into a <crude statement deleted - LE> match with me. Look, I revised my first statement. Let it go.

Gleening information from the internet is by no means first hand. Anyone who considers such is an idiot.

I have prayed for, and will continue to pray for, them.

[ November 18, 2005, 09:26 PM: Message edited by: LadyEagle ]

 

This story is on Persecution.org along with many others.

http://www.persecution.org/newsite/index.php

You will also see on this link that Christians are being persecuted by Hindus:

http://www.persecution.org/newsite/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=3

[ November 18, 2005, 09:52 PM: Message edited by: LadyEagle ]

 

Enoch,

He corrected his original statement. A retraction in this case should be more then enough.